


The Toxic Fume Fallout

by nursal1060



Series: Sladin Smutfics [8]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medical, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Anatomy, Bat Brothers, Bat Family, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Blood and Gore, Coping, Dick Grayson Whump, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, ECMO, Estrangement, Good Slade Wilson, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Hallucinations, Healing, Hiding Medical Issues, Hurt Dick Grayson, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, It's Hard and Nobody Understands, Love Confessions, M/M, Major Illness, Married Couple, Married Dick Grayson, Married Life, Medical, Medical Conditions, Medical Examination, Medical Jargon, Medical Language, Medical Procedures, Medical Trauma, Medication, Medicinal Drug Use, Medicine, Mental Anguish, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Near Death Experiences, Paranoia, Pills, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Slade Wilson, Psychological Drama, Psychological Trauma, Psychology, Psychosis, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU), Seizures, Self-Doubt, Self-Medication, Separation Anxiety, Side Effects, Slade bonds with the Batfamily, Slade learns to care for dick and loves him for who he is, Sladin, Speech Disorders, Trauma, Trust Issues, Undercover Missions, Unethical Medicine, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Vomiting, Whump, antivenom - Freeform, becoming closer, blood transfusion, dialysis, fear toxin and joker venom dont mix, illegal drugs, improper medical dosages, incorrect medication, joker venom, marriage problems, medically induced coma, mental recovery, mishandling medication, supportive slade wilson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2020-07-29 05:14:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20076730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nursal1060/pseuds/nursal1060
Summary: Dick has been exposed to the Joker Venom and Fear Toxin since he was a child. He may have grown up, but the toxins have permanently altered him.Of course, there's someone in his life who loves him and will care for him though his mental changes and medical changes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I read a post on tumblr (unfortunately I don't know who made it) talking about how Dick has probably been exposed to excessive amounts of joker venom and fear toxin in combination since he was a child. This has likely affected his mental state in some way, causing some mental health issues.
> 
> So I took that idea and went with it. I wanted to explore the perspective of mental health from the side of a caregiver/lover who has to live with them and make sense of what's happening. It's a side of life I've lived with and experienced firsthand, so I wanted to combine it with one of my favorite pairings!
> 
> Disclaimer: Ofc, this is a fictional story with fictional medical triggers, but making a character with symptoms of psychosis, anxiety and ptsd is challenging. I may not represent all symptoms correctly, as I do not have all these medical conditions AND am aware that symptoms vary from person to person! Keep that mind while you read/comment on this work! This is a sensitive topic, but I want to bring awareness to it, so please be aware I have no ill intent by portraying these illnesses as I do!

It was out of the blue that Bruce realized that Dick’s medications were no longer working. After being on anti-anxiety pills, anti-psychotic pills, and medication for PTSD related symptoms for years, they were wearing off and becoming ineffective. And the rest of the Bat Family was witnessing the fallout of his mental state.

Sometimes Dick would wake up from terrible night terrors, screaming like he was dying. This often led to all his siblings, Alfred, and Bruce rushing into his room to wake him up. He would thrash and scream until he finally regained consciousness.

While the other bat kids were terrified to see Dick reacting like this to a nightmare, Bruce and Alfred knew things were to get worse.

And it did. Dick’s behaviors quickly changed, and his normal cheeriness dampened. He became anxious of things that seemed relatively normal, such as becoming suspicious of food that Alfred made for them and checking the Batcave at night many times for intruders. He also began to daydream without warning, sometimes not moving or responding for several minutes at a time. Not even Jason or Barbara’s loud attempts to get his attention could stop his daydreaming. After any of his family members got injured, he would fly into a panic and check them for injuries in an overreacting manor, mainly on Damian, Cassandra and Stephanie. He also appeared to be having occasional hallucinations, as Bruce and Tim had caught him talking to himself audibly when he thought he was alone.

\---

Alfred was concerned and told Bruce the obvious in his private quarters , “The effects of combination exposure to the Fear Toxin and Joker Venom are making the medication that Master Dick takes ineffective. We need to have stronger ones formulated.”

Bruce sighed and said, “The ones he was taking were the strongest of their kind. Right now, there's nothing stronger for him to take. And that's concerning.”

Alfred asked the obvious, “Why is he more affected than you are, or any of the other Bat Family members for that matter, Master Bruce?”

Bruce pulled a file out from his drawer, with Dick’s medical history inside of it, “Simple, his entire brain development was affected by the toxins. While the others may have begun fighting young, none of the others fought alongside me as long as Dick has. And no one has been exposed to these toxins at the magnitude that he has, as he's spent most of his life fighting in Gotham. The toxins give the user extreme anxiety, psychotic symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, hallucinations, and paranoia. We need to order a stronger drug to be reformulated, perhaps with small amounts of anti-venom in them-”

The door to his office sprung open and Tim ran in, pale as a ghost, “Bruce! Bruce, help! It's Dick...he's acting really weird!” The three of them rushed down to the cave and were met with an unnerving sight.

Dick was on the ground, holding himself and laughing uncontrollably like the Joker. A painful smile was spread across his face and he appeared to be crying. The others could only watch in absolute horror as Dick convulsed like he was having a seizure and laughing like the Joker.

Bruce was at his side in moments, himself seeming unsure of what to do. Dick had the most severe reaction to the toxins that he had ever witnessed, and without the medication that he had been on for years, he wasn't sure how Dick’s mind had gotten so out of hand. Bruce administered a strong dose of Antivenom, which halted the laughing but not the seizure. His loved ones could only watch as he convulsed for the next several minutes.

When the seizure was over, Jason made the call. “I'm calling  _ him _ . Dick has to be with him right now.” When he was met with protests, he held firm, “Dick’s in no position to be Nightwing right now. He needs to stay in a safe place with someone until we can stop these fits! I know you guys hate him, I do too, but at this point, we can't trust anyone else!” Jason’s eyes went neon green for a moment, a reminder of his death and reincarnation from the Lazarus pit. Once he was angry, there was no stopping him, and they all knew it. Besides, he made a valid point and Bruce knew that this was likely the best course of action.

It took a matter of hours before Slade, AKA Deathstroke and Dick’s estranged husband, came to pick him up. It was the last thing Bruce wanted to do, but Dick needed to get away from Gotham until the new medication was developed. Slade was the only one they could trust for this.

Dick was in a fit of paranoia when Slade came, asking, “D-Don't tell me you rode your motorcycle to get here! Without a helmet too...what if you get hurt and get brain damage! What if I get brain damage?! You might die if you ride so fast! No! I love you, I don't want you to get hurt!” He ran to Slade as a sobbing mess and hugged him. He began to have a short laughing tic, which caused Slade to raise an eyebrow. He'd never seen his husband act like this.

Bruce sighed, “He's been like this for...a few days. But after he had this seizure...I think he's better with you right now, as much as I hate to admit.” 

Slade sighed and asked his lover, “Geez, you decide to move home and this is what happens to you? You need to spend more time at my place, little bird.” Slade was petting his husband’s head, trying to stop him from shaking and laughing. 

Alfred came back to them, holding two motorcycle helmets, “I think it would be best you both wear these. I doubt that Master Dick will let you go without them.” Slade put one on Dick first before putting one on himself.

Slade grumbled, “I haven’t worn one of these in a decade, minimum.” Alfred also gave him Dick’s current medications, several needles of anti-venom, and anti seizure medication in a bag for his time with his husband.

The other Bat Family kids came to see Dick leave, and Jason made it clear, “You better not let him out of your sight. You promised on your wedding day to be with him thick and thin, and you better keep up to it!” Slade chuckled and put Dick on the back of his motorcycle. Then he got on the front.

Dick wrapped his arms around him, “Mmm...forgot how nice it felt to hug you.” The ride was a smooth two hour excursion to one of Slade’s safehouses on the outskirts of Gotham. Dick had held on the entire time, falling in and out of consciousness and laughing fits. Slade parked the bike and carried his husband into the safehouse. Luckily, this one was neat and well-stocked, so Dick wasn’t going to have paranoid fits about the cleanliness.

Dick yawned, saying, “Slade…? You’re staying right?”

Slade nodded as he took Dick to the bedroom, “Yep, pretty bird. I will stay by your side until you can go home.” Dick turned and held his husband like a pillow, ignoring the bit of bite in Slade’s voice. He already knew that once Dick recovered, they would separate again, as Bruce wanted. Until then, he pet the younger man’s jet-black hair and talked him to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slade copes with Dick's mental health issues, and works to help him through it.

Once Dick had fallen asleep, Slade unpacked the medication that Alfred had given him. Slade raised an eyebrow at the sheer number of pill bottles he was confronted with. Alfred and Bruce had numbered each bottle and had left a note with instructions of when Slade should give him his pills, effective or not. They also included some empty bottles of older medication, probably from Alfred to let Slade know what was going on.

Slade read the labels, mumbling to himself, “These are basically tranquilizers and sedatives.” Slade did some research on each of the bottles and labels. The oldest medication bottles were prescribed 10 years ago based on the label, from when Dick was still in the Teen Titans, and they started off relatively mild. Every time they changed, they got exponentially stronger. Slade counted 17 medicine changes until his most recent ones. His most recent ones were medication only found in ICUs, inpatient wards, and rarely floating around on the black market. It wasn’t normal for an average person to get these, but Bruce Wayne made everything possible.

Slade sighed and began mapping out Dick’s medication history, “Geez pretty bird, how long have you been drugged up?” After he cleaned up the empty bottles, leaving only the newest ones on the table, he heard commotion from the bedroom. He rushed to see his husband grunting, arching up, violently kicking, and blocking his torso, as if he was in a fight. 

Slade shook Dick, “Grayson. Wake up.” Dick grunted, began laughing and thrashing around again, this time not able to stop. Realizing that shaking wasn’t going to work, Slade got onto the bed with his husband and pulled him into a brace hug, acting as a strait jacket of sorts until Dick finally awoke.

Dick gasped for air as his eyes opened. He saw Slade and then began to cry, “I thought you were dead! I watched them beat and...disembowel you!” Slade sighed, side effects from the Fear Toxins were brutal. He covered his mouth, “B-Bathroom…”

Slade helped Dick to the toilet, where he began vomiting. Slade saw it as a fear response, which made sense after such a graphic dream. As Dick was letting out his stomach contents, Slade fetches the numbered bottles. He had to give Dick the bottles marked 1, 2, and 3, with two pills of each one. He stood patiently at the edge of the bathroom, letting Dick finish.

“Here, you need these.” Slade handed him the pills in his hand and a glass of water.

Dick looked at the pills, then at Slade, “H-How do I know that...you aren't trying to give me...something else??” 

Slade chuckled, saying, “If I really wanted to drug you with something else, I would've done it, Pretty Bird. You married me. You know that.” Dick stared at him a bit longer before taking the six pills and swallowing them at once. Then he took a sip of water and handed it back. Slade put the glass on the sink counter before holding Dick close to him again.

They stayed there silently for a while. Finally, Dick asked, “Are...we going to get divorced?”

Slade pet Dick’s long locks and asked, “Hmm? Why do you say that?”

Dick shrugged, “Well...I'm away from you a lot...you're in bad terms with my family...and you've seen this version of me...why would you want to stay?”

Slade rolled his eyes, “I married you because I love you. Yes, I didn't know about this side of you, but it doesn't make me love you less.” Duck trembled and stayed with his husband for what felt like hours.

Slade got a call from one of his suppliers a while later, after they'd both washed up and dressed for bed. He told Dick, “I got a shipment, going to go out and get it. Should be a few minutes.” Dick gave him a worried look, and Slade promised, “I'll be fine. Just stay and relax with the TV. I'll be back before you know it.” With a kiss and a blanket, Dick watched him go, in a slightly better state of mind with his medication.

Slade actually wasn't getting a shipment for a client, he'd ordered something off of the black market. The one who delivered it to him was Jason himself.

Jason tossed him a bag, “It was a pain in the ass to get my hands on this. Bruce would kill me if he knew you were doing this.”

Slade lit a cigarette and smoked it, having not been able to do so while Dick was paranoid. “Mmm. I'm surprised you knew the guy who dealt these. I'm guessing this is as strong as the market has.”

Jason nodded, “It can also be dangerous to give in high amounts. Make sure Grayson takes 1 pill maximum per 24 hours.” Slade took the bottle out and nodded. After Jason drove off, Slade went back inside his hideout. 

Dick was impatiently bouncing on the couch and fidgeting until he saw Slade, “There you are.” He breathed heavily in relief but kept bouncing. He couldn't sit still.

Slade went into the kitchen and said, “Batty let me know that I should give you one more of the pills for tonight. Come on, take it and I'll finish with dinner.” He wasn't going to tell Dick that this was a new medication or where he had gotten it from. He didn't want Dick to fly into another paranoid fear-toxin tizzy. If this would help Dick, he'd have to trust Jason and monitor his husband.

As Slade cooked, Dick practically skipped into the kitchen. He was feeling ‘giggly’, the effects from Joker Venom exposure. He asked, “No strange ingredients?” He popped the new pill and sipped his water.

Slade said, “It's just spaghetti. Cooked the noodles and sauce separate in case there were any ‘germs’. No herbs or anything fancy. It's plain, you can handle that.” Dick nodded and got the plates. Slade smiled, hoping a sense of normalcy would finally be coming back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick takes matters into his own hands, wanting to feel better for Slade and his family.  
Unfortunately, taking black market pills without knowledge of side effects can only end badly.

Dick waited for Slade to take his morning shower before making his way to the kitchen. He stepped lightly on his tiptoes so Slade wouldn’t hear he was leaving the bedroom over the sound of the water. He silently turned the bottles of medication that Slade had left on the counter to face him.. 

Dick was in the right state of mind with the new pills he had taken, but he was about to do something that would only hurt him. It wouldn’t make sense to anyone else.

Dick slowly and meticulously removed one of his three major medication labels and placed it on the unmarked pill bottle he didn’t recognize from the manor. That was the bottle Jason gave to Slade last night. Then he tiptoed back to the room the same way he left. 

Of course, Dick had noticed the effects of this very heavy black market drug, it was unlike the medications Bruce had gotten for him. It snapped him back to his normal self in moments. He wanted more of it. He wanted to be okay and be with Slade.

Dick held the pillow and pretended to sleep. All he could think of was how happy Slade was when they made love less than an hour ago. He was so excited to see the Dick he loved and recognized. He loved seeing Dick happy, witty, and healthy. If being this way made Slade happy, Dick would do just that.

The shower stream turned off and less than a minute later, Slade came out with only a towel around his waist. Dick feigned sleep until Slade slapped him on the ass.

“Get up Pretty Bird. I know you’re up.” Dick smiled and opened his eyes to look up at his older husband. “How do you feel?”

Dick smiled deviously, “Better. I feel more alive.” Slade leaned down to kiss him, one that lingered for almost a minute, as Dick wouldn’t let Slade go.Slade helped Dick sit up as a precaution before he let his husband wash up.

Slade went into the kitchen to brew some coffee. The change in Dick’s personality was remarkable. He had gone from being paranoid and anxious to being...well, like Slade was used to. Jason was a lifesaver in that regard, but Slade did enjoy having his husband around, even if it was only for a sick visit. It was difficult being married to someone he watched grow up and one who fought on the opposite side of the law. They rarely got to spend time together because of it. They only got married because of feelings and convenience, so both could seduce other heroes but operate with a moral code of marital promises.

As he stirred the cream into their coffee cups, Slade vividly remembered Dick asking him to marry him. It was on a building rooftop, with both of them eating donuts and drinking coffee, as the sun was just about to rise on the Gotham horizon. Dick brought it up suddenly, and Slade snidely remarked back how stupid it would be. But Dick pressed on, explaining why it could help both of them as well as Gotham: a mutual marriage between good and ambiguous would mean that Slade and many of the Gotham criminals would not attack the Batfamily directly and the Batfamily would strategically let Slade’s operations fly (for the most part). After about an hour of convincing, Slade rolled his eyes, and said he agreed, sealing their fates with a kiss in the dawn sun. The smell of cream in coffee always brought Slade back to that memory.

Dick smiled from the bedroom doorway, asking, “What’s got you so wrapped up that you didn’t notice me coming here?”

Slade turned to him and handed him a piping hot mug of coffee, saying, “Your foolish proposal, Pretty bird. If anyone else was as cheesy as you, they’d have been rejected years back.”

Dick smiled and took the coffee, saying, “Well, you knew me. And you did say yes.”Dick flashed his hand with the thin wedding ring on it. They opted for very thin but sturdy rings so they could still fight without interference. Slade sipped his coffee, he wasn’t wearing it, but Dick already knew his reason: respect for his kids’ mother and that it’s rather risky to operate certain machinery with it on. He always kept it in the bedroom drawer though. Dick asked, “Any update from Bats? He’s the type who’d want updates.”

Slade went to the couch and picked up his tablet to check, “You bet he did.” As Slade messaged Bruce, Dick opened his medication bottles and took out his regular pills. Slade would definitely check for those. Then he quickly and silently opened the black market pills, sticking two behind his teeth while blocking Slade’s view. 

Slade came back just as Dick finished closing all his bottles. “Lemme see your pills.” Dick showed him the pills and Slade nodded, so Dick swallowed all the pills together, including the ones he hidden in his mouth. “Open up, lift up your tongue. You’re a pro at this, not sure if that’s a bad thing.” 

Dick sipped his water, saying, “It’s bound to happen when you’ve been on antipsychotics for over a decade.” Immediately, Dick could feel the rush that he felt yesterday night with the new pills. The pills felt fucking fantastic, he felt free from worry for once. He was happy and not fearful, which was a great feeling. 

He began to look over Bruce’s questions that he asked Slade, remarking, “You rarely see Bats so concerned. He’s getting soft.”

Slade chuckled, “You are his first kid, of course he cares. You’re also staying with a criminal.” Dick held Slade’s hand and squeezed it, finding comfort in the slight pounding of Slade’s radial pulse. Slade explained he was just leaving for a bit to do another hit, and he would be back quickly. DIck assured him he was fine, and for the first part of the day, he was. It wasn’t until about an hour that Dick started feeling weary.

Suddenly, he felt too alert. His fingers and toes felt like they were on pins and needles. He felt nauseated and like his stomach was being shaken from the inside. The sensations were strange, but Dick thought it was simply his body getting used to the new miracle pills. After another 30 minutes, he started to get blurred vision and vertigo, having to use the walls for support. A few minutes after, he couldn’t stand at all. 

Then, he puked...and all he could see in his blurred vision was red. Dick recognized the taste of blood. He was puking blood. That...that wasn’t right. Seeing as he couldn’t stand, Dick used his forearms to drag himself, bleeding, to the bathroom, where he proceeded to puke up more blood into the toilet. 

Damn it, maybe he took too many pills. Slade wasn’t home to help either. Realizing that he had to get the pills out of his system, Dick stuck his fingers into his throat, causing him to puke even more. He started to feel a little better, so he continued. He didn’t know how long he was at it until he blacked out. He could hear a faint ringing in the distance as he lost consciousness on the bathroom floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slade finds Dick in a horrific state. Healing will be a process, one that will bring Slade closer to his husband and his family.

Slade sat by Dick’s bed in the Gotham Hospital’s ICU, reading a book as he listened to the melodic beeps of the machines monitoring Dick’s vitals. He had barely slept since he was admitted, seven days ago.

Slade’s mission was interrupted by a call from Jason. He was concerned that Dick wasn’t calling him back, which wasn’t like Dick at all. After several missed calls, Jason called Slade and told him to check up on Dick. While Dick assured him he was fine, Slade decided to just make sure things were okay. He decided to drop by the safe house again, letting his goons finish the mission solo. 

Once he entered, there were pillows and blankets on the floor. That was a red flag; Dick always kept the blankets folded and the pillows in a nice arrangement, whether he was under the effects of Joker Venom and Fear Toxins or not. Slade called his name, and he heard nothing in response; yet another red flag. Stepping just behind the couch, he got the worst surprise he could’ve ever imagined. 

There was a puddle of blood on the kitchen floor, along with smearing. It implied that Dick or someone else had been dragged. Right there near the blood was Dick’s cell phone, explaining why he never answered Jason. Slade hastily ran to the bathroom, following the splatter, and found a horrific sight. Dick was propped up against the wall by the toilet. There was blood and vomit all over the toilet, and blood was coming from his mouth and covering his shirt. He was unconscious and barely breathing.

Slade wasn’t quite sure how he got Dick to the hospital so quickly, but Dick was taken into emergency care right away. The doctors worked on a number of procedures before the Batfamily was even alerted. Slade knew a lot about medicine and the list of Dick’s tests were extreme: stomach pumping, blood transfusion, medically induced coma, blood clearing through an ECMO, feeding tube insertion, breathing tube insertion, and mechanical lung clearing. Dick was stabilized but kept in a medically induced coma to keep his temperature low. If he got too warm, he could overheat and suffer brain damage, something Slade knew too well. 

Of course, Bruce was furious when he found out about what happened. His stoic demeanor was replaced by anger and hatred towards the man his eldest son married. Of course, Jason had to explain that none of this was Slade’s fault; Slade wouldn’t do this to Dick. 

When the doctors told Jason what they found that Dick had done, it hurt him just as much as it hurt Slade. Dick had purposely overdosed himself on the black market drugs. He knew what he was doing when he did it, and now he was fighting for his life because he had chosen to overdose. 

Slade and a member of the Batfamily stayed by Dick’s side every day that he lay unconscious in the ICU. Rose and Jericho visited their father and Dick in the hospital every so often to give their dad new things to do. Seven days went by in a blink of an eye. Slade would be stationary in his corner of the room as Bruce, Jason, Tim, Damian, Barbara, Stephanie, Cassie, and Duke went in and out of the room, taking turns on patrol and doing their daily work. There was always at least one of them in the room with Slade, and even though most never interacted verbally with Slade, they would nod in recognition whenever they entered or left the room.

On the eighth day, Slade was reading a book and holding Dick’s left hand, which was fully wired up. It was a little past sunset, and Bruce would be leaving and Jason would be coming in soon. They had developed a bit of an order, and Slade knew who to expect when. Slade was reading a passage on Gotham history when he felt Dick’s hand twitch. Slade turned abruptly and paged the doctor in.

Jason and Bruce both noticed when both of Dick’s hands suddenly twitched and tightened into fists. Dick’s head began to turn from side to side, as though he was fighting to awaken. After a quick round of defibrillation by the ICU doctors, Dick’s eyes finally opened, and he began to scream and thrash with unnatural strength for someone who was just in a medical coma. Slade and Bruce held him still until he was given his Joker Venom and Fear Toxin antidotes. Then, he became quiet and sleepy once again.

Slade kissed the back of his hand, “Damn nearly gave us a heart attack, Pretty Bird.”

Dick’s eyes slowly wandered around the room, “Slade...Jas-on...Bruce...where…?” The rest of the Batfamily came pouring in within an hour, Alfred included. It took a few hours for Dick to stomach something light and get his voice back. At that point, some of the tubes were taken out.

Slade told him after the commotion died down, “What the hell were you doing Dick? You overdosed, why did you take more pills than you were alotted?”

Dick frowned and came clean with his thoughts, “I wanted to make you happy. I don’t like being away from you Slade, and I hate it when you saw me paranoid and erratic. I thought...just a few more pills and I’d be just fine. You’d be happy, so would everyone else in the family. I could be Nightwing again, I wouldn’t need all the prescribed pills, my siblings wouldn’t see me during psychotic episodes. It sounded good at the time.”

Jason jumped in, saying, “Never do that again, Dicky Bird. Never. You were way too close to the edge.”

Slade nodded, affirming him, “Your heart is always in the right place. I could see what you wanted by healing. But, I swear to all the deities in the universe, if you dare hurt youself like this again, I will chase you to the underworld to scold you. I’m fine with how you are. Pills, no pills, Nightwing or Dick Grayson.” His other siblings pipped in, assuring him that he was always going to be their big brother, no matter how many medications he needed or how long it took to find him his right dose. 

Dick squeezed Slade’s hand and smiled in appreciation, happy that everyone, Slade included, cared enough about him to see him through one of the most dangerous fuck ups of his life. He vowed to never overdose himself again, and was looking forward to recovering with his family and husband by his side.


End file.
